STRATEGY IN AFTER-SALES SERVICES
In after-sales services, needs-based strategic positioning should be made with the aim of reducing costs and providing quality service with differentiated service types, price differentiation and price differentiation, taking into account the needs of customers. The reason for needs-based positioning is that it is difficult to heterogeneously segment after-sales customers according to their characteristics (behavioral, demographic, socioeconomic, etc.), business lines, jobs and fields they work in, and to ensure homogeneity within each segment. There may be differences between the expectations of those who earn their income from their machines and those who use their machines as a means of earning their main income, or there may be differences between those who work in the industrial field and those who offer rental services, but no matter which customer they are, they all expect quality service (speed, technical knowledge, technical skills, good communication and intervention with the right equipment), fast spare parts supply and low prices. The decision mechanism resulting from these expectations may also work differently according to the urgency of the need, the benefit to be provided and the economic conditions.
A needs-based strategy is not the same for a manufacturer, a distributor and an authorized service. To give an example; After sales services can never be the main source of revenue for manufacturers. Manufacturers can use after-sales services as a tool for satisfying customers in order to increase the sale of machinery, which is their main revenue. Otherwise, when the personnel in charge of after-sales services focus on increasing revenue, customer satisfaction takes a back seat and this becomes a factor that increases customer dissatisfaction. Increasing both customer satisfaction and revenue is a very difficult task and not every company can achieve this. Therefore, the focus of a manufacturer’s after-sales services team should be on customer satisfaction and issues such as turnover, profitability and market share should be secondary priorities. However, for a distributor or a dealer, the strategy is slightly different.
The most appropriate goal for after-sales services is to create long-term value, to satisfy customers with a sustainable service and growth approach, to reduce costs, and to increase revenue and profitability. The emphasis on revenue and profitability should come after the others and not override them. Revenue and profitability are outputs of others. Market share cannot be included in after-sales services because; the number of items is too high, it is difficult to predict demand accurately, it is not known which machine will have which malfunction and when, there are many original and sub-industry product sellers in the market and their sales data cannot be known.
Sales volume cannot be included in the objective because sales volumes can be very misleading. The proportion of quantity parts such as bolts, washers, o-rings may change the sales volume. However, market share and sales volume are two criteria that need to be calculated, monitored and evaluated according to certain assumptions in order to provide an idea of competitive benchmarking and direction of travel. There is a delicate balance between customer satisfaction, revenue and profitability and the balance needs to be well balanced. Because; focusing only on profitability reduces revenue and focusing only on revenue reduces profitability.
If customers’ expectations are not met and cost-effective services cannot be provided, both revenue and profitability will decrease. The most important factor affecting all is price. The most important performance measurement criteria and targets are those related to customers. Customers should be kept in focus when setting targets.